You who fear the Lord, praise Him.
All you seed of Jacob, glorify Him;
Fear Him, all you seed of Israel.
For He has not despised nor scorned the beggar’s supplication,
Nor has He turned away His face from me;
And when I cried out to Him, He heard me.
My praise is from You in the great church;
I will pay my vows before those who fear Him.
The poor shall eat and be well-filled,
And those who seek Him will praise the Lord;
Their hearts will live unto ages of ages.
All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord;
And all families of the Gentiles shall worship before You,
For the kingdom is the Lord’s;
And He is the Master of the Gentiles.
All the prosperous of the earth ate and worshiped;
All going down into the earth shall bow down before Him,
And my soul lives with Him.
And my seed shall serve Him;
The coming generation shall be told of the Lord,
And they will declare His righteousness
To a people who will be born, because the Lord made them. (Ps 22:23–31)
When He said that thanks are to be rendered by one and all because the Godhead deigns to hearken to the poor, the Lord Christ intruded Himself with the words: Neither has he turned his face away from me. In this way, then, He made the cause of all men His own; in this way, He eliminated the sins of the world through the holiness of His body so that by His drawing human weakness to Himself the devil might lose the prize he held. But why did He cry, and why did He say He was heard? Precisely so that our death might be bounded by His destruction so that the sin of the old man might be redeemed at the price of His most holy passion.
With You means ‘concerning You’; in the great church, that is, the Catholic Church spread through the whole world, for it is rightly called great in glory and distinction. My vows He wishes us to interpret as the sacraments of His body and blood, offered in the presence of those subject to Him in holy fear. Finally, observe what follows. … Realize that by poor He meant those who scorned the enticements of this world with the richest contempt; not the wealthy, stuffed with this world’s happiness, but the poor, those hungry for God’s kingdom. So He added: And shall be filled; only those possessed by such hunger could be filled.
The poor praise the Lord, the rich exalt themselves. The rich accumulate treasures on earth, the poor grow rich with heavenly abundance. Their resources differ, but their mentalities are totally at odds. In short, the rich derive their wealth from the world, the poor from God. How very different are the vows which they have fulfilled! The poor possess what they can never lose; the rich hold what not only the dead but even the living often lose. Next comes: Their heart lives forever and ever. Their heart lives, in other words, their hope immovable is renewed; for we say that what continues in the grace of the Godhead truly lives.
When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mk 8:34–37)
While there is much in the world to love, it is best loved in relation to the One who made it. The world is beautiful, but much fairer is the One who fashioned it. The world is glorious, but more delightful is the One by whom the world was established. Therefore, let us labor as much as we can, beloved, that love of the world as such may not overwhelm us, and that we may not love the creature more than the creator. God has given us earthly possessions in order that we may love him with our whole heart and soul.
All you seed of Jacob, glorify Him;
Fear Him, all you seed of Israel.
For He has not despised nor scorned the beggar’s supplication,
Nor has He turned away His face from me;
And when I cried out to Him, He heard me.
My praise is from You in the great church;
I will pay my vows before those who fear Him.
The poor shall eat and be well-filled,
And those who seek Him will praise the Lord;
Their hearts will live unto ages of ages.
All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord;
And all families of the Gentiles shall worship before You,
For the kingdom is the Lord’s;
And He is the Master of the Gentiles.
All the prosperous of the earth ate and worshiped;
All going down into the earth shall bow down before Him,
And my soul lives with Him.
And my seed shall serve Him;
The coming generation shall be told of the Lord,
And they will declare His righteousness
To a people who will be born, because the Lord made them. (Ps 22:23–31)
When He said that thanks are to be rendered by one and all because the Godhead deigns to hearken to the poor, the Lord Christ intruded Himself with the words: Neither has he turned his face away from me. In this way, then, He made the cause of all men His own; in this way, He eliminated the sins of the world through the holiness of His body so that by His drawing human weakness to Himself the devil might lose the prize he held. But why did He cry, and why did He say He was heard? Precisely so that our death might be bounded by His destruction so that the sin of the old man might be redeemed at the price of His most holy passion.
With You means ‘concerning You’; in the great church, that is, the Catholic Church spread through the whole world, for it is rightly called great in glory and distinction. My vows He wishes us to interpret as the sacraments of His body and blood, offered in the presence of those subject to Him in holy fear. Finally, observe what follows. … Realize that by poor He meant those who scorned the enticements of this world with the richest contempt; not the wealthy, stuffed with this world’s happiness, but the poor, those hungry for God’s kingdom. So He added: And shall be filled; only those possessed by such hunger could be filled.
The poor praise the Lord, the rich exalt themselves. The rich accumulate treasures on earth, the poor grow rich with heavenly abundance. Their resources differ, but their mentalities are totally at odds. In short, the rich derive their wealth from the world, the poor from God. How very different are the vows which they have fulfilled! The poor possess what they can never lose; the rich hold what not only the dead but even the living often lose. Next comes: Their heart lives forever and ever. Their heart lives, in other words, their hope immovable is renewed; for we say that what continues in the grace of the Godhead truly lives.
Cassiodorus, Explanation of the Psalms 21.25, 27
When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mk 8:34–37)
While there is much in the world to love, it is best loved in relation to the One who made it. The world is beautiful, but much fairer is the One who fashioned it. The world is glorious, but more delightful is the One by whom the world was established. Therefore, let us labor as much as we can, beloved, that love of the world as such may not overwhelm us, and that we may not love the creature more than the creator. God has given us earthly possessions in order that we may love him with our whole heart and soul.
Caesarius of Arles, Sermons 159.6
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